Even before Nissan introduced the Altima hybrid late in 2006 using a licensed Toyota hybrid system, they started development work on their own in-house system. More recently, there were indications that the Nissan system might first appear on Infiniti models. Now it looks like the system that is being developed will follow the path of Porsche and GM's Two-Mode hybrid system and allow electric assist at higher speeds. What's not known is whether the motor will be able to run along with the engine for extra boost as the two-mode system does, or if it will be able to run solely on electricity at highway speeds as the Porsche system allows. The new hybrid is expected to appear on the next-generation Infiniti FX in about 2011.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Nissan took a shortcut to hybrid technology by licensing Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive for the Altima Hybrid. But that's not the end game for Nissan. They are currently developing their own in-house system that should debut around the end of the decade.

Toyota has probably been able to recover a lot of their hybrid development costs by applying it to many platforms. They likely also are able to offer it for a lower cost on vehicles like the Prius and Camry by padding the price on high end Lexus vehicles. Nissan looks set to follow a similar strategy with Infiniti after their own system is available. This would allow Infiniti to continue offering higher-performance vehicles while cutting emissions and fuel consumption relative to similarly-powered gas-only versions. If they do offer hybrid Infiniti models it will be interesting to see how they compare to the upcoming diesels.

[Source: MotorAuthority]